UC-NRLF 


B    3    757    5^3 


HORATIO     PARKER 


PUBLISHED    ON   THE 

KINGSLEY   TRUST   ASSOCIATION 

PUBLICATION   FUND 


DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE 

AMERICAN  ACADEMY  OF  ARTS  AND  LETTERS 

XXV  JULY  MCMXX 


1863.1920 


HORATIO  PARKER 


BY 

GEORGE   W.    CHADWICK 

li 


'  •     i  i  •  •   '» J. '  J » '  ; 


NEW    HAVEN 
YALE    UNIVERSITY    PRESS 

1921 


"Uu^ 


COPYRIGHT.    1921.    BY 
YALE    UNIVERSITY    PRESS 


HORATIO    PARKER 


HORATIO  PARKER,  composer,  con- 
ductor, organist  and  teacher,  inherited 
from  both  parents  an  uncommonly  retentive 
and  alert  mind  and  an  artistic  temperament ; 
from  his  mother,  also  musical  talent,  or  at 
least  musical  taste.  His  father  was  a  well- 
known  architect.  Several  large  edifices  in 
Boston  and  other  cities  of  New  England  are 
specimens  of  his  work.  He  was  for  some  time 
superintendent  of  construction  of  the  Boston 
Post  Office  and  other  public  buildings  in 
Massachusetts,  and  was  a  man  of  wide  and 
varied  knowledge. 

Parker's  mother,  daughter  of  a  Baptist 
minister,  was  a  woman  of  great  refinement 

5 

445000 


HORATIO  PARKER 

and  cultivation.  An  excellent  Latin  and 
Greek  scholar,  she  had  also  considerable  fa- 
cility as  a  writer  of  English  verse.  To  the 
care  of  four  children  she  added  the  duties  of 
organist  in  the  village  church  at  Auburndale 
and  gave  music  lessons  besides. 

Undoubtedly  Parker  owed  to  her,  who 
was  his  first  teacher,  the  love  of  good  music 
which  became  the  passion  of  his  life.  As  a  boy 
he  gave  little  indication  of  this.  The  woods 
of  Auburndale  and  the  Charles  River  (near 
which  he  lived)  occupied  much  more  of  his 
attention  than  his  piano  practice.  At  four- 
teen he  could  hardly  play  a  simple  scale  on 
the  piano,  but  shortly  after  that  his  soul 
awakened  to  the  beauty  of  music,  especially 
of  harmony,  for  which  his  latent  talent  de- 
veloped with  great  rapidity.  At  sixteen  he 
became  organist  of  a  small  Episcopal  church 
in  Dedham,  Massachusetts,  and  at  once  be- 

6 


HORATIO  PARKER 

gan  to  compose  hymn  tunes,  anthems,  and 
services  for  the  choir.  For  the  next  two 
years  he  had  lessons  in  pianoforte  and  har- 
mony with  various  Boston  teachers  and  made 
great  progress. 

At  eighteen  his  ambition  reached  out 
toward  orchestral  composition.  In  this  he 
was  probably  stimulated  by  the  recent  suc- 
cess of  John  K.  Paine's  two  symphonies  and 
of  other  American  composers.  It  was  at  this 
time  that  my  acquaintance  with  him  began. 
He  had  already  acquired  remarkable  facility 
in  harmony  and  modulation,  to  which  was 
added  a  very  fertile  vein  of  lyric  melody,  and 
both  his  melodies  and  harmonies  had  a  dis- 
tinct and  individual  character  of  their  own, 
which  may  be  detected  in  his  later  and  more 
mature  compositions.  It  was  easy  to  predict 
even  then  that  this  combination  of  qualities 
would  carry  him  far. 

7 


HORATIO  PARKER 

As  my  pupil  he  was  far  from  docile.  In 
fact,  he  was  impatient  of  the  restrictions  of 
musical  form  and  rather  rebellious  of  the  dis- 
cipline of  counterpoint  and  fugues.  But  he 
was  very  industrious  and  did  his  work  faith- 
fully and  well.  His  lessons  usually  ended 
with  his  swallowing  his  medicine,  but  with 
many  a  wry  grimace.  It  was  quite  natural 
that  before  long  our  relation  should  develop 
from  that  of  teacher  and  pupil  into  a  warm 
and  sincere  friendship,  as  it  ever  afterward 
remained. 

It  was  during  this  period  that  he  wrote 
the  beautiful  "Twenty-third  Psalm"  for 
women's  voices  and  organ,  revised  and  pub- 
lished some  years  after  with  harp  and  violin 
obbligato.  In  1882,  he  went  to  Munich  and 
entered  the  Royal  Music  School,  in  Rhein- 
berger's  class  both  in  organ  playing  and  in 
composition. 

8 


HORATIO  PARKER 

Rheinberger,  although  a  composer  of  op- 
eras, orchestral  works  and  of  much  romantic 
and  beautiful  chamber  and  choral  music,  was, 
as  a  teacher,  conservative,  almost  to  the  verge 
of  pedantry.  Under  his  rigorous  discipline 
Parker  acquired  that  mastery  of  contrapuntal 
choral  writing  which  so  distinguished  his 
later  work. 

While  in  school  he  wrote  several  works 
for  orchestra  and  chamber  music  which  were 
performed  at  school  concerts.  At  his  gradua- 
tion in  1885  a  cantata  for  chorus,  solos,  and 
orchestra,  called  '*King  Trojan,"  was  per- 
formed under  his  own  direction.  Although 
this  work  showed  some  of  the  naive  qualities 
of  youth  and  inexperience,  its  spirit  was  so 
fresh  and  spontaneous,  and  its  construction 
and  instrumentation  so  sure  and  authorita- 
tive, that  it  must  be  considered  a  remarkable 
effort  for  a  young  student  of  twenty-two.  It 

9 


HORATIO  PARKER 

was  afterward  performed  at  the  Worcester 
Festival  and  in  several  other  places. 

He  returned  to  America  in  1885  and  for 
the  next  seven  years  lived  in  New  York.  He 
took  charge  of  the  music  department  of  the 
Cathedral  School  at  Garden  City  and  was 
afterward  appointed  as  instructor  at  the  Na- 
tional Conservatory,  at  the  same  time  ful- 
filling his  duties  as  organist  at  St.  Andrews 
Church  and  later  at  Holy  Trinity.  Much  of 
his  church  and  organ  music  dates  from  this 
period,  although  he  also  wrote  some  secular 
choral  works  and  piano  music. 

In  1891,  during  a  period  of  serious  ill 
health  and  of  poignant  domestic  grief,  he 
began  the  composition  of ' '  Hora  Novissima. ' ' 
He  had  made  a  beginning  on  another  medi- 
aeval Latin  hymn,  '  'Vita  nostra  plena  bellis, ' ' 
but  abandoned  it  on  account  of  the  monotony 
and  inflexibility  of  the  rhythm.   The  great 

10 


HORATIO  PARKER 

hymn  of  Bernard,  which  is  the  foundation  of 
several  of  our  best-loved  modern  hymns  of 
the  church,  was  in  the  same  collection  of 
poetry.  Probably  encouraged  by  his  mother, 
who  made  the  translation  for  him,  he  set  to 
work  on  the  "Hora  No\issima.  "  It  was  fin- 
ished in  1892  and  sent  in  for  the  prize  offered 
by  the  National  Conservatory  for  a  work  for 
chorus  and  orchestra.  It  did  not  receive  the 
prize,  which  was  awarded  to  him  for  a  much 
less  important  though  charming  work  called 
"The  Dream  King  and  His  Love." 

"Hora  Novissima"  was  performed  for  the 
first  time  by  the  Church  Choral  Society  of 
New  York  on  May  2,  1892,  at  the  Church 
of  Zion  and  St.  Timothy,  under  his  own  di- 
rection. It  was  immediately  recognized  as  an 
important  work  of  permanent  value.  Per- 
formances in  Boston  by  the  Handel  and 
Haydn  Society  in  February,  1894,  and  at 
11 


HORATIO  PARKER 

the  Springfield  Festival  of  the  same  year 
were  succeeded  by  many  others  in  different 
cities  of  the  country,  and  eventually  in  Eng- 
land, where  it  has  been  performed  more  than 
twenty  times.  The  solid  musical  worth  of 
' '  Hora  Novissima, ' '  its  skillful  and  impressive 
choral  writing,  the  poetic  beauty  of  the  solos, 
and  the  varied  and  colorful  instrumentation, 
endear  it  to  musicians,  while  its  lofty  spirit- 
ual atmosphere,  its  fervent  religious  expres- 
sion, although  tinged  with  a  romantic  mys- 
ticism, make  a  strong  appeal  to  the  general 
musical  public. 

In  1893  Parker  was  called  to  Boston  to 
assume  the  position  of  organist  and  choir- 
master at  Trinity  Church.  The  close  prox- 
imity of  his  old  home,  the  congenial  com- 
panionship of  his  old  friends,  the  active 
musical  life  of  Boston,  his  growing  reputa- 
tion, all  stimulated  him  to  further  effort.  In 

18 


HORATIO  PARKER 

December,  1893,  he  wrote  his  ballad  for  bar- 
itone and  orchestra, '  'Cahal  Mor  of  the  Wine- 
red  Hand."  This  strange  and  remarkable 
poem  by  James  Clarence  Mangan  made  a 
strong  appeal  to  his  imagination  and  he  pro- 
duced a  score  that  in  dramatic  power,  poetic 
suggestion  and  vivid  orchestral  coloring  has 
seldom  been  surpassed  in  this  form  by  any 
American  composer. 

When,  in  1894,  the  department  of  music 
at  Yale  University  was  reorganized  as  a  com- 
pletely equipped  school  of  theoretical  and 
applied  music,  he  was  appointed  as  its  head, 
receiving  at  the  same  time  the  honorary  de- 
gree of  M.  A.  He  was  at  first  rather  reluctant 
to  accept  this  position,  involving  as  it  did  the 
necessity  of  lecturing  on  Musical  History  and 
^Esthetics,  of  which  he  had  never  made  any 
special  study.  But  this  deficiency  was  very 
soon  made  up,  and  his  general  lectures  soon 

13 


HORATIO  PARKER 

became  an  important  as  well  as  popular  part 
of  the  curriculum.  He  organized  and  con- 
ducted a  symphony  orchestra,  which  became 
an  indispensable  laboratory  of  the  depart- 
ment, since  it  furnished  the  necessary  expe- 
rience for  composers,  conductors,  singers,  and 
players  who  were  studying  in  the  school. 
During  his  administration  the  great  organ  in 
Woolsey  Hall  was  built,  to  be  succeeded 
after  some  years  by  a  still  mightier  instru- 
ment. He  also  lived  to  see  his  department 
housed  in  a  beautiful  and  fully  equipped 
building  of  its  own  through  the  munificence 
of  Mrs.  F.  S.  Coolidge,  herself  a  cultivated 
musician  and  the  daughter  of  a  Yale  graduate. 
Of  Professor  Parker  as  a  teacher,  others 
may  speak  with  more  authority  than  I.  From 
his  comprehensive  knowledge  of  the  classics 
as  well  as  his  sympathy  with  modern  devel- 
opments,  his  profound  knowledge  of,  and 

14 


HORATIO  PARKER 

masterly  command  of  counterpoint  and  form, 
his  genius  for  tone-painting  with  the  orches- 
tra, strikingly  demonstrated  in  his  operas,  he 
was  eminently  fitted  to  be  a  guide  and  leader 
of  young  composers.  He  gave  them  his  un- 
stinted interest  in  the  classroom  and  out, 
and  some  of  them  have  risen  to  very  honor- 
able positions.  He  was  succeeded  by  one  of 
them  as  Dean  of  the  Music  School  at  Yale, 
and  many  there  are  to  call  him  blessed. 

In  1897  he  wrote  his  oratorio  of  **St. 
Christopher."  The  poem  of  this  work  was 
written  by  his  mother  and  was  a  labor  of  love. 
Working  side  by  side,  the  poem  and  music 
grew  at  the  same  time.  He  introduced  into 
this  work  two  Latin  hymns,  one  of  which, 
"Jam  sol  recedit,"  is  an  unsurp?issed  master- 
piece of  choral  writing  for  unaccompanied 
voices.  * 'St.  Christopher"  was  first  performed 
by  the  Oratorio  Society  of  New  York  under 

15 


HORATIO  PARKER 

Walter  Damrosch  in  1898,  shortly  after- 
ward at  the  Springfield  Festival,  and  in  1902 
at  both  the  Norwich  and  Bristol  Festivals  in 
England.  It  has  never  achieved  the  great 
popularity  of  "Hora  Novissima"  but  is  still 
in  the  repertoire  of  choral  societies. 

In  1899  he  was  invited  to  England  to  con- 
duct **Hora  Novissima"  at  the  Three  Choir 
Festival  at  Worcester.  Both  he  and  his  work 
were  welcomed  with  such  enthusiasm  that  he 
was  invited  to  contribute  a  new  work  to  the 
Hereford  Festival  of  the  next  year.  Here  the 
Wanderer's  Psalm  (the  107th,  called  the 
"Cantus  Peregrinus")  was  produced.  In  the 
same  year  **Hora  Novissima"  was  performed 
at  Chester.  This  was  followed  by  the  "Star 
Song, "  a  poem  by  Henry  Bernard  Carpenter, 
for  the  Norwich  Festival  in  1902  (for  this 
piece  he  had  already  received  the  Paderewski 
prize),  and   "St.   Christopher"  at  Bristol. 

16 


HORATIO  PARKER 

The  same  year  he  received  the  degree  of 
Mus.Doc.  from  Cambridge  University.  If 
we  consider  the  conservatism  of  EngHsh  mu- 
sical taste,  especially  in  Cathedral  towns,  we 
must  admit  that  this  is  rather  a  remarkable 
record  for  a  young  American  in  his  thirties. 
The  prophet  is  not  without  honor  in  Eng- 
land, at  any  rate. 

For  the  Bicentennial  of  Yale  University 
in  1902  he  composed  a  Greek  ode  for  male 
chorus  and  orchestra — the  "Hymnos  An- 
dron' ' — a  piece  of  singular  power  and  beauty. 
He  returned  from  England  in  order  to  con- 
duct it  at  the  Bicentennial  exercises. 

In  1911  he  won  the  prize  offered  by  the 
Metropolitan  Opera  Company  for  the  best 
grand  opera  written  in  English  and  composed 
by  an  American,  which  was  his  opera ' '  Mona, ' ' 
the  libretto  by  Brian  Hooker.  In  1914  he 
won  a  similar  prize  offered  by  the  Women's 

17 


HORATIO  PARKER 

Federated  Musical  Clubs  with  his  opera 
"Fairyland,"  the  libretto  by  the  same  poet. 

This  is  not  the  proper  time  or  occasion 
for  a  critical  estimate  of  his  two  operas.  He 
had  little  sympathy  for  the  conventions  and 
the  artificialities  of  the  stage,  and  perhaps  he 
was  lacking  in  what  the  Germans  call  theatre 
blut.  This,  combined  with  inexperience  in 
composing  for  the  stage  and  plots  which  made 
little  appeal  to  the  average  theatre-goer,  mil- 
itated against  the  popular  success  of  these 
works,  but  they  proved  his  complete  mastery 
of  modern  harmony  and  modern  orchestra- 
tion, and  both  of  them  were  awarded  valu- 
able prizes.  In  the  case  of  "Mona"  it  was 
the  unanimous  opinion  of  the  judges  that  no 
other  award  was  possible. 

In  his  morality  play,  "The  Dream  of 
Mary, ' '  which  he  wrote  in  collaboration  with 
John  Jay  Chapman,  he  returned  to  simple 

18 


HORATIO  PARKER 

form  of  expression  appropriate  to  such  an  art 
form.  The  characters  narrate  the  story  as 
well  as  sing ;  the  audience  takes  part  as  in  the 
Greek  chorus,  assisted  by  the  choral  forces 
on  the  stage.  The  atmosphere  of  the  work  is 
profoundly  devout  and  religious. 

Another  work  in  which  he  collaborated 
with  Mr.  Chapman  is  a  masque  or  serenata 
called  *' Cupid  and  Psyche*' — a  delightful 
composition  in  which,  with  very  simple 
means,  he  has  reflected  the  spirit  of  the  Ital- 
ian Renaissance.  It  was  performed  at  Yale 
University  in  1915. 

In  his  last  work,  the  music  to  the  com- 
memorative poem  by  Brian  Hooker,  in  mem- 
ory of  the  Yale  men  who  gave  their  lives  to 
their  country  in  the  late  war,  Parker  has 
written  his  own  Requiem.  To  this  noble 
poem  he  has  given  a  very  impressive  setting, 
elegiac  in  spirit  but  with  some  thrilling  dra- 

19 


HORATIO  PARKER 

matic  touches,  as  for  instance  at  the  words 
"One  shall  have  sweet  sleep" — the  trumpet 
is  heard  in  the  distance  sounding  taps.  It  is 
an  heroic  tribute  to  heroic  men,  some  of 
whom  were  his  own  students. 

After  he  went  to  Yale  he  developed  a  de- 
cided literary  ability.  To  a  close  and  discrim- 
inating observation  he  added  an  individuality 
of  expression,  illuminated  by  gleams  of  pun- 
gent humor  which  caused  him  to  be  sought 
after  as  a  speaker  and  contributor  to  various 
periodicals.  His  essay  on  contemporary 
music,  delivered  before  the  American  Acad- 
emy of  Arts  and  Letters,  is  a  good  example 
of  his  ability  in  this  direction.  The  individu- 
ality of  his  style  was  no  less  evident  in  his 
literary  work  than  in  his  music. 

He  was  fond  of  making  paradoxical  ob- 
servation, sometimes  rather  difficult  for  less 
subtle  minds  to  follow.  Of  a  certain  piece  for 

20 


HORATIO  PARKER 

organ  and  orchestra  he  said,  "That  has  no 
business  to  sound  so  well. ' '  This  was  really 
a  retroverted  compliment  to  the  composer 
for  making  a  successful  mixture  of  organ 
and  orchestral  tone,  a  problem  which  requires 
an  expert  musical  chemist.  Berlioz  said  that 
the  orchestra  was  king  and  the  organ  was 
pope,  and  when  they  came  together  there 
was  usually  a  clash. 

As  a  musician,  Parker's  instrument  was 
the  organ.  His  master,  Rheinberger,  admired 
his  playing  and  delegated  him  to  play  the 
solo  part  at  the  first  performance  of  his  con- 
certo in  F  major.  He  continued  his  duties  as 
organist  at  Trinity  Church  in  Boston  for  six 
years  after  he  went  to  New  Haven,  making 
the  journey  each  week  for  the  purpose. 
While  making  no  pretensions  as  an  organ 
virtuoso  he  often  gave  recitals,  and  in  1903 
performed  his  organ  concerto,  then  new, 
21 


HORATIO  PARKER 

with  the  Chicago  Symphony  Orchestra,  and 
shortly  afterwards  with  the  Boston  Sym- 
phony Orchestra  in  Boston.  This  work,  noble 
and  dignified  in  character,  is  an  important 
addition  to  the  rather  meagre  repertory  of 
compositions  for  organ  and  orchestra.  He 
held  an  organ  position  in  New  York  until  a 
few  years  before  his  death,  and  conducted 
two  singing  societies  in  Philadelphia  at  the 
same  time. 

With  his  masterly  command  of  orchestral 
resources  it  seems  strange  that  he  should  have 
composed  so  little  for  the  orchestra  alone. 
He  was  often  urged  to  do  so  and  he  would 
not  have  lacked  a  hearing.  The  symphony 
orchestras  of  America  and  probably  of  Eng- 
land were  open  to  him,  but  he  felt  that  he 
needed  words  as  a  vehicle  and  poetry  for  his 
inspiration,  and  in  writing  for  voices  he  was 
in  his  element.  His  most  important  com- 
22 


HORATIO  PARKER 

position  for  orchestra  alone  is  the  "Northern 
Ballad,"  first  performed  by  the  Boston  Sym- 
phony Orchestra,  and  afterwards  in  Chicago 
and  other  places. 

He  wrote  with  great  facility,  and  his  in- 
dustry was  prodigious.  With  all  his  varied 
activities  as  teacher,  conductor,  and  organist, 
he  kept  steadily  at  composition,  and  in  the 
summertime  he  allowed  nothing — even  his 
favorite  golf  or  his  bicycle — to  interfere 
with  it. 

As  a  congenial  companion,  a  loyal  com- 
rade, and  a  steadfast  friend,  Parker  has  left 
a  blessed  memory.  His  conversation,  punc- 
tuated with  keen  wit,  was  stimulating,  and 
not  of  the  prima  donna  variety.  Devoted  as 
he  was  to  his  own  art,  he  found  time  to  be 
interested  in  politics,  in  literature,  and  in 
other  arts.  His  mind  was  stored  with  a 
variety  of  information,  and  his  memory  was 
as  remarkable  for  facts  as  it  was  for  music. 
23 


HORATIO  PARKER 

His  judgment  was  sound,  and  based  on  a 
comprehensive  knowledge  of  the  musical  art. 
While  his  musical  creed  was  founded  on 
beauty  of  design,  melodic  breadth,  and  logi- 
cal structure,  he  was  interested  in  all  modem 
developments  in  harmony  and  instrumenta- 
tion. He  had  a  singularly  open  mind  in  re- 
gard to  modern  compositions,  and  often 
expressed  himself  enthusiastically  about 
some  of  the  most  "advanced"  of  them. 
Often  he  would  say,  "That  is  not  as  bad  as 
it  sounds."  But  with  pretence  or  shams  of 
any  kind  he  had  no  patience,  and  he  was 
quick  to  detect  them  in  some  of  the  modern 
fads  of  polyharmony  and  poly  cacophony. 

He  was  fond  of  outdoor  life,  and  an  ar- 
dent devotee  of  golf  and  the  bicycle.  Many 
of  his  summers  were  spent  in  the  vicinity  of 
Tegernsee  in  the  Tyrol,  where  he  tramped  in 
the  mountains  and  rode  his  bicycle  as  a  re- 

24 


HORATIO  PARKER 

laxation  from  his  work.  His  amiability  and 
cheerfulness  never  forsook  him,  even  during 
the  painful  attacks  of  rheumatism  from  which 
he  suffered  all  his  life. 

With  the  remarkable  success  of  *'Hora 
Novissima' '  both  in  America  and  in  England, 
it  was  natural  that  his  anthems,  services,  and 
hymns  for  the  church  should  have  achieved 
great  popularity.  He  was  easily  the  most 
distinguished  musician  in  the  American 
church,  and  it  was  perhaps  inevitable  that  he 
should  be  classed  as  an  ecclesiastic  composer. 
But  he  was  not  a  mystic  or  an  ascetic ;  he  was 
a  simple,  devout  Christian  gentleman  who 
loved  his  church  and  all  her  offices,  and  he 
gave  the  best  that  was  in  him  to  her  service. 
In  the  very  last  year  of  his  life  he  gave  valu- 
able assistance  to  the  commission  on  the  re- 
vision of  the  hymnal. 

But  many  pages  of  his  music,  from  "Cahal 
25 


HORATIO  PARKER 

Mor"  throughout  his  orchestral  works  and 
operas,  show  that  his  real  place  is  among  the 
romanticists,  and  it  is  a  high  one.  He  was 
an  honor  to  the  name  of  American  musician, 
and  he  commanded  respect  for  it  not  only  in 
his  own  country,  but  abroad. 


26 


C-P-E 

FEINTED    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

OF    AMEEICA 


-rasn 


':w 


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